Wether using a DMM or a Scope is not the issue here, its the technique. Everything I have read or videos I have seen shows that you are supposed to turn off all EQ's/curves, Bass enhancers, ect... then with the HU's volume set to max before clipping turn the gains up till you see clipping on the amp outputs then back it off a hair. GOT THAT PART!

But what happens to the signal as soon as you turn your EQ,Epicenter, ect.. back on?

Will you start clipping at a lower volume due to boosting certain freq when hitting those hard notes?

SQ people always say "Never Boost, always cut" to balance peaks but sometimes you have to boost certain freq. to get it sound right.

Or am I over analyzing?

ahole-ic

02-24-2012, 02:16 PM

No you're right, but you're missing the point as well. You have to ask yourself what is happening. The eq is cutting or boosting frequencies. You set your gain at 1 frequency.... usually 50hz. So what if 50hz is -6db? That means that your gain is set to max out on that -6db signal. Every other frequency is now way too high. Because of this, they say set it to flat. Then all frequencies theoretically are set level. That is not totally true in practice, but that is irrelevant. Since boosting anything would be to drive that frequency into clipping, it's not the best idea. Once you've set your gain at maximum, the idea is to not go over that because you have to assume you're clipping if you do. Again, this will not always be true, but without in depth testing, you'll have no clue where you're clipping and where you're not. This is all about best guessing. After all, DMM gain setting isn't necessarily very accurate.